Wire and elongated strands are usually shipped and handled in coil form, and wire may be dispensed from the coil by rotating the coil about its axis, or the wire may be uncoiled over the end of a stationary coil. Coils of welding wire may weigh one thousand pounds or more and because of the coil weight, it is impractical to rotate the coil as the wire is dispensed for welding purposes. Accordingly, welding wire dispensers have been developed wherein the wire is peripherally removed from a stationary coil by a rotating guide as shown in my U.S. Pat. No. 4,253,624.
Various problems exist with known wire dispensers which have not been successfully overcome. For instance, wire and strand dispensers are often used in an environment laden with dust and small airborne particles of foreign matter, liquids and gases, and as a large coil of welding wire may take several months to deplete, the coiled wire is subject to corrosion and contamination which may adversely affect the welding characteristics and the resultant welds. However, because of the construction of known welding wire dispensers, practical and effective protection of the welding wire from the environment has not been achieved.
Further, welding wire dispensers of the rotating guide type have used a guide support threaded into a base upon which the coil rests. The rough handling to which such guide supports are subjected often damages the threads of the guide support and base rendering assembly of these components difficult and haphazard.
Another problem which exists with prior art dispensers of this type lies in the adverse dispensing characteristics that occur as the coil is depleted. With unspooled coils it is common place to compress the coils with a compression ring such as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,253,624 and the compression ring radially extends over the upper regions of the coil. As the coiled wire is depleted, the compression ring must be retightened in order to control the confinement of the wire and the operators often forget to continually retighten the compression ring. Automatic means for maintaining the compression of the ring on the coil is needed.
As depleted coils are replaced, it is necessary that the conduit which receives the coiled wire from the coil and transports the wire to the welder must be disconnected, and the available structure interconnecting the wire guide and wire conduit is presently of such nature as to be inconvenient to connect and disconnect.
Further, improvements are needed in the protection of the lower region of the coils of unspooled wire, and inexpensive apparatus for providing such protection is presently not available.
It is an object of the invention to provide a welding wire dispenser for either spooled or unspooled wire coils wherein the wire is closely confined within a dust cover and protected from the environment.
Another object of the invention is to provide a welding wire dispenser having a dust cover associated therewith wherein the dust cover rotates with the rotating wire guide and such rotation is produced by the guide and the guide does not require additional drive apparatus.
Yet a further object of the invention is to provide a welding wire dispenser having a dust cover wherein the dust cover includes a cover extending over the coil upper end and a transparent curtain vertically extending along the coil periphery.
An additional object of the invention is to provide a compression ring for compressing unspooled coiled wire, the compression ring having a deformable resilient configuration which will automatically conform to the coiled wire during depletion and minimize the necessity for retightening the coil compression ring.
Another object of the invention is to provide a welding wire dispenser having a base supporting a vertically extending wire guide support wherein a quick release connection between the base and support is provided which is relatively foolproof in operation, capable of positively locking the support relative to the base against axial displacement, and which is not readily damaged by careless handling.
A further object of the invention is to provide a welding wire dispenser having a quick release coupling of the rotatable type interposed between a wire guide outlet and a wire conduit wherein these components may be readily assembled and disassembled, and are capable of relative rotation.
An additional object of the invention is to provide a welding wire dispenser for spooled wire wherein a dust cover may be employed therewith and the dust cover rotates relative to the spool.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide a base for coiled unspooled wire which is impervious to moisture and which is readily oriented to the coil and capable of supporting a rotating wire dispensing guide.
In the practice of the invention a coil of welding wire, either spooled or unspooled, is supported such that the coil axis is vertical, and the coil is stationary during dispensing. A rotating guide is coaxially supported relative to the coil located above the coil upper end and the lower end of the guide is located adjacent the coil periphery such that as wire is pulled through the guide by the welder, the guide will rotate about the coil feeding the wire into the guide and a conduit which leads the wire to the point of use.
A dust impervious cap, usually formed of synthetic plastic overlies the upper end of the coil, or spool, and a flexible curtain depends from the cap circular periphery for location adjacent the coil periphery. In this manner the coil is enclosed and protected at the top and sides from the environment and possible corrosion from foreign matter within the surrounding air. The lower end of the guide extends through the curtain, and a mechanical connection exists between the guide and curtain such that the rotation of the guide also rotates the dust cover.
The dust cover is mounted upon anti-friction bearings supported upon the coil compression ring which is used with unspooled wire, or the dust cover bearings are mounted upon a plate positioned upon the upper spool of a spool of coiled wire.
With spooled wire, a plate is positioned upon the upper surface of the upper spool flange, and this plate includes orientation tabs which cooperate with the dust cover bearing to locate the dust cover relative to the spool and insure consistent and proper operation of the wire guide during dispensing.
With unspooled wire, a base is provided as formed by three-shaped elements intersecting at a common location coincident with the coil axis. The guide support coaxially located within the coil utilizes a quick connector at its lower end for association with the base members and this quick connector is a modified bayonet-type connection wherein a radial tang formed on the lower end of the guide support is received within a slotted socket on the base and partial rotation of the support locks the support to the socket and base.
The compression ring used with unspooled coils is preferably of a slight conical configuration converging in an upper direction. Thus, when the central region of the compression ring is forced downwardly by the nut mounted upon the guide support, the central region of the compression ring is deformed, and as the coil is depleted, the removal of the wire at the coil periphery permits the outer regions of the compression ring to automatically deform toward the coil to improve retention of the wire on the coil as it is used.
Also disclosed in the invention is a moisture impervious base upon which an unspooled coil rests, the base protects the lower region of the coil from floor moisture and foreign matter. A metal bracket is used with this synthetic plastic base and the quick connect apparatus for the guide support is located in the metal bracket.
Also forming a part of the instant invention is the use of a quick connect coupling at the outlet end of the wire guide and the inlet end of the wire conduit. This coupling is of a standard type utilizing ball detents, and permits ready rotation between the guide and the conduit, yet permits these components to be readily separated and reattached during coil replacement.